Cat Health Symptoms

What causes my cat to continually get FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease)?

Public Comments

1. possibly the pH in the food. sometimes litter gets stuck up the urethra. male cats are more prone to this
2. could be the diet, could be a slight birth defect (as in the urinary passage is too narrow, etc. One of my cats is recovering from it, due to crystals. He is on a prescription diet now, and is doing great. Here is a very informative website i found about it that might help you. http://everything2.com/e2node/Feline%2520Lower%2520Urinary%2520Tract%2520Disease
3. Do you feed him dry foods only? Try changing the food and give him wet food at least 2ice a week. Also, change the litter. What brand do you use? Take him to a vet. I don't know your cat's age but it could also be age related.
4. The most common cause of FLUTD is idiopathic;- meaning the cause cannot be determined. Yes, I know this can be confusing. Did you get a urinalysis done? What about a culture sensitivity test? Were they any crystals in the bladder and did the test came back negative? You have to take all this into consideration. Most idiopathic cases shows little to no crystals in the urine and culture will always comes back negative, which means they could not find the presence of bacteria therefore no infection. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact cases of idiopathic and recurring FLUTF but you many look into making some dietary changes. If you have been feeding dry, please consider changing to wet. Cats fed a dry food diet are statistically more likely to develop urinary tract disease. This is most likely due to the fact that they have a lower water consumption (less water content in the food) and therefore produce more concentrated urine. Crystals are more likely to form in concentrated urine and the urine may also have an irritant effect on the bladder. Therefore, a cat who is predisposed to FLUTD fare better on a wet diet. Sudden changes in environment and stress could also be a possible cause for FLUTD. Here are some things that you can do to minimize the chances of recurrence: * Feed small meals on a frequent basis. * Provide clean, fresh water at all times. * Provide an adequate number of litter boxes (usually one more than the number of cats in the household). * Keep litter boxes in quiet, safe areas of the house. * Keep litter boxes clean. * Minimize major changes in routine.
5. This is not my area of expertise, but this has been my experience: As a kitten, Poppy developed both a weight problem and a UTI. My vet told me to start feeding her special food which he happily sold me *gulp*. Poppy refused to eat it. Back then I was less aware of how to get cats to eat new foods, so I just said the hell with it and bought Purina One's urinary health food, mixed with weight management. She ate that from then until she was 2 years old. She never had another UTI. Does this mean that this food is as good as the overpriced prescription food, or did I just get lucky? I don't know the answer, although I suspect the former statement is probably true. For various reasons, I soon thereafter began researching cat nutrition. I learned about the benefits of wet food, and found that in many cases, that's all that's required to prevent future UTI's. Even the crappy brands like Friskies would be better than dry food! I don't claim to be a vet, vet tech, vet student or anything like that. But I know how to research and examine results. I've read a bit on this topic which is how I've reached the conclusions I have. At the very least, were I to have another cat with urinary problems, I'd sooner try them on a GOOD QUALITY canned food before shelling out the dough for a "prescription" dry food (or even their canned varieties). That's because I believe that good nutrition and species appropriate food is much more likely to keep a cat healthy than inferior ingredients which have been tweaked to change their chemical composition. What should YOU do? If your vet recommends a prescription diet, I can safely recommend that at the very least you get the canned version of that food. That way your cat will get the extra hydration it needs. And don't feel bad about giving your cat this food - temporarily. It will do what it's designed to do, so you can be sure that your cat will do well while you do more research. And I would encourage you to do so. Don't take my word for it - read up on these things for yourself. Stabilize your cat with the prescription food while you look for something better. If canned food (or raw) alone is not helping enough, there are other supplements you could research. I have not done so, but I know that Wysong makes a supplement for urinary issues. "Biotic pH- is designed for cats or dogs needing assistance generating and maintaining an acidic urine to help prevent struvite crystal formulation." I can't endorse this particular product, but know that it's out there. And if it is, there are sure to be others. Again, I would sooner feed good food, with a supplement such as this, than the crappy prescription foods. UPDATE: I wanted to quote some info I ran across this morning (3.8.08). This info is taken from discussions in WholeCatHealth. While in and of itself it may not answer any questions, it can at least demonstrate that this group would be an excellent resource for anyone whose cat has a urinary problem. "S/D and C/D are acidifying diets - meant for short-term use to bring down the urinary pH. There are risks associated with long-term use of these diets....." (see the last paragraph for more info on this). "Feeding a high-quality, low-carbohydrate, meat-based, high-moisture diet reduces risk of urinary problems, incl crystals. Meat proteins provide the amino acids that naturally keep the urine slightly acidic (desirable for cats is 6.0-6.5 pH)...and the moisture (about 78% for canned and 68% for the premade raw) helps promote urine volume and pee frequency, which reduces risk of crystal formation. But some cats, even on a species-appropriate diet, can't maintain pH...so it's important to monitor the urine, which you can do at home with pH paper or urine dipsticks. If the pH consistently stays about 7.0, then you can add an acidifier such as L-methionine or ammonium chloride to the meat-based food...and then still monitor to see how the pH is doing." This last bit is from http://vetsites.vin.com/Kidney/FLUTD.doc: "Chronic use of acidifying diets leads to metabolic acidosis, which can lead to decreased bone formation and detrimental effects on calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium balance. Potassium depletion, hypokalemia, and chronic renal failure can result from feeding acidifying diets which have a marginal potassium content. The use of acidifying diets is also contraindicated in cats with chronic renal failure as these animals are often already acidotic. The use of diets high in NaCl should also be avoided in animals with congestive cardiac failure. Finally, as indicated above, the use of diets designed to dissolve struvite may lead to a higher risk of calcium oxalate urolithiasis." Urinary Tract Disorders in Cats: http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=017 Why cats need canned food: http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=whycatsneedcannedfood What to feed: http://www.catinfo.org/commercialcannedfoods.htm More info on urinary problems: http://www.holisticat.com/FusFaq.htm http://vetsites.vin.com/Kidney/FLUTD.doc:
6. I had a cat that got UTIs at least once a year. The first time she came down with one, my vet recommended the following: --Give filtered water, not tap water. Particularly if you get your water from a municipal water supply, the chemicals in that water can cause a pH imbalance in your cat's urine. --Don't feed tuna or other fish-based cat food (again, it changes the pH). --Canned food is preferred, as long as it's not fish, because its moisture content is higher.